- Date
- August 14, 2014, 11:30 local (15:30 UTC)
- Place
- Oxford, NC
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N8432UCessna 172F
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 12, 2015
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Case key
- 89918
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The student pilot's improper landing flare, which resulted in a hard landing. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's improper compensation for wind conditions.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot reported that after takeoff, his passengers were uncomfortable in the "bumpy" conditions, so he returned to the departure airport for landing. He said that due to his passenger load and the crosswind conditions, the owner of the airplane advised over the radio that the pilot should perform the landing with flaps set at 10 degrees. The pilot stated that the airplane "ballooned" on the first touchdown, and that the second touchdown was "harder than normal." A witness stated that there was a direct crosswind, and the airplane touched down with then nose pointed 30 degrees right of centerline. The airplane "porpoised" and landed on the nosewheel first a number of times in succession. Inspection of the airplane after taxi and parking revealed cracking and buckling of the wings, fuselage, and engine firewall. The pilot reported, and inspection by FAA inspectors revealed, no mechanical deficiencies that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that after takeoff, his passengers were uncomfortable in the "bumpy" conditions, so he returned to the departure airport for landing. He said that due to his passenger load and the crosswind conditions, the owner of the airplane advised over the radio that the pilot should perform the landing with flaps set at 10 degrees. The pilot stated that the airplane "ballooned" on the first touchdown, and that the second touchdown was "harder than normal." A witness stated that there was a direct crosswind, and the airplane touched down with then nose pointed 30 degrees right of centerline. The airplane "porpoised" and landed on the nosewheel first a number of times in succession. Inspection of the airplane after taxi and parking revealed cracking and buckling of the wings, fuselage, and engine firewall. The pilot reported, and inspection by FAA inspectors revealed, no mechanical deficiencies that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8432U
- Reported as
- Cessna 172F
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17252332
- Built
- 1964
- Airframe hours
- 4,835.5
- Engine
- Cont Motor 0-300 SER, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Empire Aviation Inc
- Registered owner
- Empire Aviation Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 18, 2014 · 18 hours before
- Departed
- HNZ · Oxford, NC
- Destination
- HNZ · Oxford, NC
- Airport
- HNZ · Henderson-Oxford, runway 24, 5,002 × 97 ft, asphalt
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 31
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 70 total · 708 in this make and model · 2 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 77 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.46 inHg
- Observed at
- KHNZ
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 29, 2014, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.9 MB in all.
Other investigations on N8432U · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.